Reflections on a global agenda: On variety, fragmentation, change, and the big questions ahead

Abstract

This chapter presents the aims and ambitions of the book to cover a broad range of aspects in higher education research, relevant for a global readership and stimulating higher education research globally, to map out the potential directions of travel, being relevant but visionary, forward-looking and innovative. It considers the state of the art in higher education research, pointing to its diversification and risk of fragmentation, positions the contributions to the book on the higher education research map, and reflects on how a research agenda for global higher education can be understood. How global are the agenda and its object? This is continued with a discussion of the meaning and impact of change in the global context as a driver of adaptation processes in higher education. What will the Covid-19 pandemic and economic-political rebalancing imply for the sector? Thus unfolding a set of “big questions” for the higher education research agenda.